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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: root · trunk · march · pound · face · chest · hand · wake

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. root — the cause
  3. face — part of the head
  4. march — the month
  5. hand — in cards
  6. march — the month
  7. face — to point toward
  8. hand — help
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chest — of your body
  17. root — of a plant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. march — music
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. chest — a box
  24. face — to confront

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com